


with roots that reached out for the sea

by thequeenofokay



Series: the elements, i do not fear [1]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Kid Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-15
Updated: 2015-03-15
Packaged: 2018-03-18 01:03:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3550298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thequeenofokay/pseuds/thequeenofokay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Skye’s daughter is born on a Sunday. Late afternoon, maybe even dusk. It had rained. She’ll always remember how much it rained.</p>
<p>The baby’s father is not present, and Skye knows she should be glad of that.</p>
<p>// a legend is born. skye has no idea what to name her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	with roots that reached out for the sea

**Author's Note:**

  * For [allthesongsmakesense](https://archiveofourown.org/users/allthesongsmakesense/gifts).



> \+ for em -- this is our baby. like our literal baby. i have finally given her fic. (feel better babe.)
> 
> \+ title from "the sighting" by a fine frenzy.

Skye’s daughter is born on a Sunday.

Late afternoon, maybe even dusk. It had rained. She’ll always remember how much it rained.

The baby’s father is not present, and Skye knows she should be glad of that. In fact, the guards stationed outside the door have probably been told to restrain Hellfire by any means necessary, should he show his face.

( _‘Hellfire?’ she’d scoffed. ‘Really? Isn’t it a little dramatic?’_

_He’d shrugged, smiling an infuriating, full of himself smile. ‘And Quake isn’t?’_

_She’d shoved him in the shoulder. It was supposed to be violent, not playful – she **hates** him, and he better not forget it – but she’s not sure it turned out like that.)_

She blames it on post pregnancy hormones, but she cries. She cries holding her new baby daughter, and Jemma strokes her hair, because he should _be there_ , damn it. She hates him, she definitely hates him, which is getting a little harder, these days, when she’s got so much else to hate. She thinks she probably hates him less than giving birth, bullet wounds and early morning workouts (in that order) these days.

Her baby makes a little mewling sound in her arms. Skye still hasn’t thought of a name for her yet. She’s shit at names. She called her teddy bear “Teddy” when she was a little girl. And when she gained the power to create earthquakes, she called herself “Quake”.

Which reminds her:

She wipes her eyes on the corner of her top, and looks up at Jemma. ‘I didn’t break anything, did I?’ she asks. The doctors had known of her… situation, but she’d hoped it wouldn’t been a problem. She’s been working tirelessly at her control.

Not because Ward is _already_ better at it keeping his powers in check despite having had them for half the time she’s had hers. She’s not that petty.

‘No,’ Jemma assures her. ‘You did brilliantly. I registered almost no seismic activity.’

Skye smiles. Sleepy. Not just because Jemma’s using big words that she’s too tired for. She’s so sleepy. She’s just going to close her eyes for a second.

*

When she wakes, it’s dark outside the window, and still raining.

She’s alone.

No, not alone. Her baby is in the crib at the end of her bed, and one of her team will be right outside the door.

She pushes her covers off herself and stands. Her legs are still a little shaky, but all things considered, she could feel a lot worse.

Her baby is awake. She’s looking up at Skye with big deep blue eyes. They remind Skye of oceans. She wonders if it doesn’t make here a terrible mother that she hopes they stay that way.

She scoops her daughter up into her arms again. ‘Hi,’ she whispers. Her baby blinks at her, and she takes that to mean she’s saying ‘hi’ back.

‘Welcome to the world, baby,’ she murmurs. ‘I promise I’m trying to make it nice as I can for you.’ She sways her baby in her arms a little. ‘And,’ she adds, before she can stop herself, ‘I think your daddy is too.’

_Shit_. She’s crying again.

She wishes he was here. She really fucking wishes he was here. She’s stupid and weak and he should _be here_.

_(It’s been over a month since she last saw him. A long time, in their terms. They’ve got a habit of running into each other, usually in the middle of some kind of world-ending crisis._

_This one hadn’t been like that. This one had been across a table in a café, a sonogram between them. Unsettlingly domestic._

_‘I won’t be there,’ he’d said. ‘When she’s born.’ A statement, not a question. He didn’t expect anything else._

_‘Damn right,’ she’d spat back._

_He’d nodded. Resigned, but calm, steady. It throws her. It’s hard to be angry when he’s not giving back the same. ‘Will you let me see her?’ he had asked._

_‘I…’ She’d taken a breath. A part of her, a selfish part of her, had wanted to say no just to hurt him. But she couldn’t do that to her daughter. ‘Yeah,’ she’d said. ‘You can see her. We’ll sort out some kind of custody thing.’_

_He hadn’t quite smiled, but she’d seen something in his eyes brighten. ‘Thank you.’ He’d stood, looking like he wanted to say something else. ‘I’ll see you,’ he’d said._

_That had been it._

_They’d not seen each other since. She’d been pulled out of missions and never had the chance to see him. She’d kept tabs on him, simply because it was her duty to do so. He was the enemy, or at the very least an unpredictable variable._

_And a lot more than that but… not the point.)_

‘I’m sorry if your life is a little bit messy, baby,’ she says. ‘I’m trying my best.’ She wipes her nose on her sleeve. She must look disgusting. ‘But you’ll have a family. You’ll have me and all your aunts and uncles. And Coulson definitely thinks you’re his granddaughter.’ She lets out a little choked laugh, and the baby gurgles.

‘And you’ll have your daddy. Even if he’s a di— a slightly terrible human being. I know he’ll be there for you too,’ she says.

She thinks her baby smiles. She opens her mouth at least, and she definitely looks happy.

‘I’ll be in so much trouble if you’re like us,’ Skye says. ‘Are you going to be a super baby?’ She bounces her baby gently. The thought of her child out in the world, defeating monsters and bad guys scares her more than anything. It’s not safe out there. She doesn’t want to even consider that she’s not going to protect her from harm, always.

‘If you are,’ she decides, ‘I’m not helping with your superhero name as well. Your real name is hard enough. Your dad can help with that.’

She lowers her voice a little. ‘Don’t tell,’ she says. Like the baby would. ‘But his Inhuman name is cooler than mine. _Hellfire_. Even if it is a bit… dramatic.’

Skye pauses. She looks at her baby. ‘Hellen?’ she tries. ‘How would you like that as your name?’

Baby Hellen gurgles. Skye guesses that means she likes it.

‘Hellen,’ she says again, trying it on her tongue. She doesn’t want to think about what Ward’s going to say when he hears what she’s named their daughter. He’s never going to let this go.

**Author's Note:**

> \+ [tumblr](http://rainward.tumblr.com/)


End file.
